Parents confirm body is their son’s

PHUKET: After looking at photographs of a body found in the woods behind Freedom Beach on January 25, the parents of missing British-South African Mark Robson, 27, today confirmed that the body was that of their son.

Monday 13 February 2012, 06:39PM

Mr Robson’s parents, Merneen and Keith, contacted Phuket Tourist Police on February 9 to ask them for help to look for their missing son.

Yesterday, Mrs Robson posted on her Facebook page, “Our darling son Mark had been missing in Thailand and were were informed last night that his body had been found (strangled) in Phuket on either 25 or 26th January.

“We had seen him over there for a few days while on holiday in January but lost e-mail contact after the 15 January. We are absolutely devastated to have lost our very special boy.”

Mark Robson arrived in Phuket on December 5, then traveled alone in Koh Samui, Patong, Karon and Nai Yang, according to emails written to his parents when he moved from one place to another.

On January 15 he wrote that he was in Nai Yang. That was the last time they heard from him

However, ATM records showed that he withdrew money from his Travelex foreign exchange account eight days later.

He was due to leave Phuket on February 6 to begin work as an English teacher in Taipei on February 8, but failed to catch the flight.

After receiving information from the Robsons, tourist police volunteers sent the pictures of the dead body to them.

Police believe that Mr Robson’s death was a suicide, and emphasised that rumours that it was related to the dispute over the land nearby were not true.

The body was found seated on the ground with a rope around the neck, tied to a tree limb. There were scratches on the body’s limbs and coccyx. Police theorised that after his death gravity had dragged the body to the ground.

The Robsons confirmed that the body in the photograph was that of their son, especially after seeing the T-shirt he was wearing, which they recognised as his.

However, Mr Robson told Tourist Police volunteers that he found it hard to believe that Mark would kill himself, as he had no problems in his finances, his love life or his career, and had never been involved with drugs.

He said that he had visited his son in Phuket and had seen no indications then that he was depressed or had problems that might lead to suicide.

Arrangements are being made to collect Mr Robson’s body from hospital in Surat Thani and send it to his parents.